Formula 1 - 2009

[Devinda_Z]

BMW Sauber is the latest team to introduce its 2009 F1 campaign car in the shape of the F1.09, unveiled on January 20 by its two drivers, Robert Kubica and Nick Heidfeld. It comes a day after unveils of the Renault R29 and Williams FW31.

The response by a lot of F1 fans to the current crop of cars hasn't been entirely rapturous - new rules and regulations have led to the cars taking on a different look to recent years. And while the Renault is notably affected, the Williams is a much cleaner looking car, although the smart dark blue livery is said to be an interim one.

F1 aerodynamics have been changed with wider front wings and dramatically narrower rear ones. It's led to a big change in the look of 2009's F1 cars, with proportions altered from the lower, sleeker cars of recent years. Extra aerodynamic aids and winglets have been banned, although the front wing can be adjusted twice a lap by extra buttons on the steering wheel.

McLaren's MP4-24, Ferrari's F60 and Toyota's TF109 are similarly styled although the change to new rules has perhaps affected the Prancing Horse most. The front and back appear to have differing styling leading to a loss in style over classic Ferrari F1 cars of old. This is perhaps reflected in the naming of the car - instead of the predicted F2009, fitting the team's traditional naming pattern, it's F60.

Other changes include the 2.4-litre V8 engine, which is limited to 18,000rpm (a 1000rpm cut) and mated to a seven-speed gearbox while each unit has to last three races rather than two. Each driver gets eight engines to last the season. Maximum weight for the cars is 600kg on race day, including driver, water, lubricant and cameras. An extra five kilos is allowed during qualifying.

Cars will have 13in wheels wrapped in Bridgestone Potenza rubber, the first time slicks have been used since 1998. Other big news comes in the shape of KERS (Kinetic Energy Recovery System) which includes regenerative brakes, as F1 takes the first steps to cost cutting and energy saving. Still not a world-saving sport, but it's a push in the right direction if it's to have a future. The unveiling of Toyota's car is great news, dispelling rumours that the team could go the way of Honda.

Current champ Lewis Hamilton and Heikki Kovalainen continue at McLaren while the F60 will be piloted by Felipe Massa and Kimi Raikkonen. The 2008 line-up also remains unchanged for Toyota with Jarno Trulli and Timo Glock this year's drivers.

Fernando Alonso has been a rumoured replacement for Raikkonen for some time, with talk of a 2010 swap currently doing the rounds. Kimi is scheduled to tackle the Arctic Lapland rally later this month, the driver perhaps feeling out future options. For now, Alonso joins Nelson Piquet Jnr at the helm of the Renault with Nico Rosberg and Kazuki Nakajima taking the reins of the Williams FW31.

The cars left to be revealed are those from R*D B*LL and Force India. A question mark still remains over Honda and the two places on the F1 grid its team occupies.

Source : http://www.evo.co.uk/news/evonews/233606/2009-f1-cars.html

[Devinda_Z]

The 2009 Cars!

Source : Evo Magazine

[Devinda_Z]

Source : Evo Magazine

[Devinda_Z]

Source : Evo Magazine

[MasterDon]

Source : Evo Magazine

oohh i like this colour combo...reminds me of old lotus F1's like the 77 and the 95T....

[Overdrive]

Is it just me, I think the new cars look HOT!! Took a bit of getting used to but i think they look real mean. man this new wing must have some serious downforce. So far all team livery looks really good, specially the williams.

Dev

Good start to the thread!

[Devinda_Z]

Is it just me, I think the new cars look HOT!! Took a bit of getting used to but i think they look real mean. man this new wing must have some serious downforce. So far all team livery looks really good, specially the williams.

Dev

Good start to the thread!

all thanks to the Evo mag news letter

[Devinda_Z]

hmmm whats with the aggressive tread pattern on just the renaults??

[Overdrive]

I think they were just testing the new wet tyres! looks crazy!

[Devinda_Z]

R*D B*LL RB5 - 2009

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2kkWdHhjVAs...player_embedded

[Devinda_Z]

F1 grid complete - Unveil of Force India's new Merc-engined car completes the 2009 Formula 1 grid

By Stephen Dobie

10th March 2009

The 2009 Formula 1 grid is now full following the welcome buyout of Honda’s F1 team (now named Brawn GP, and starting well in testing) and the unveil of this, the ’09 Force India car.

Codenamed VJM02, it uses the same Mercedes FO 108W engine as the McLaren MP4-24 and Brawn GP BGP 001 and will once again be piloted by Adrian Sutil and Formula 1 veteran Giancarlo Fisichella, who will line up at the season-opening Australian Grand Prix for the 14th time.

It is his second season at Force India, the Silverstone-based team competing for the second year in Formula 1 after buying out Spyker F1 in late 2007. Hopefully the team will have a more prosperous season than ’08 – last year saw 18 retirements from its two cars, with Fisichella’s tenth place at the Spanish GP Force India’s biggest success with no points amassed all year.

Source : http://www.evo.co.uk/news/evonews/234536/f...d_complete.html

[miniace]

The stage is set for 2009 Formula One season and it will be the 60th FIA F1 season. Season starts this sunday the 29th.Ten teams geared up for this years battle .

For some good info about the 2009 season ,follow the link below.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2009_Formula_One_season

MINIACE

[KLM]

Elvis_Pil will be stoked that the two Williams cars are at the top of the timesheets after the first Friday practice. The Brawns are fast and Lewis, true to McLaren's pre-season form, is languishing down in 16th. After the highs of last year's phenomenal season and championship you'd be forgiven for thinking that it couldn't get any better but there is so much to look forward to in Melbourne this time, with the new era cars etc.

[miniace]

Its going to be an exteame Saturday Q session.Placed no bets for the grid and raceday .IMO its very wide open this year.

MINIACE

[Devinda_Z]

New F1 scoring system canceled due to pressure from teams

Due to the pressure exerted by the F1 teams, the governing body of Formula One has consented to cancel the immediate execution of its newly revised scoring system.

Last Friday, FOTA said that it had assembled to question the legality of the decision of the World Motor Sport Council. The revision in the scoring and the voluntary cap on budget for 2010 is seen as a political struggle within the F1 to determine the future of the sport. In trying to implement the Bernie Ecclestone’s ‘gold medals’- style scoring system, FIA seemed to have intentionally forgotten about a separate proposal by FOTA where the points difference between the first and second placers is simply raised from 2 points to 3. The proposal of the Formula One Teams Association was based on the findings of a Global Audience Survey which included inputs from public preferences, and which they believed must be taken into consideration by the F1 government. Furthermore, FOTA points to a violation of Appendix 5 of the Sporting Regulations and article 199 of the International Sporting Code which states that it was already too late for FIA to effect a change in the rules that does not have a unanimous support of all the Teams duly registered

Source : http://www.4wheelsnews.com/new-f1-scoring-...ure-from-teams/

[KLM]

http://f1.automoto365.com/news/controller....p;news_id=35229

This is some funny stuff, released by STR's PR team I believe. One fool of a reporter actually asked Buemi (during the Friday Press Conference in Melbourne) if he actually tried to bring in the Toblerone and paid A$350 for the taxi ride. My favourite bit is at the end when he talks about his team-mate Seb Bourdais being so 'nice'.

________________________________

It’s going to be a long flight to Melbourne, but I don’t mind, I have plenty to read on the plane, including the 325 interviews I have given to Swiss magazines and newspapers since I was confirmed as a Toro Rosso driver. There are some other drivers and team bosses at the airport when I check in, but I don’t see them after we go through passport control. I head off to the shops and they follow signs to another gate, although I have never heard of an airline called “V*P.”

No, I was wrong, they are on the same flight, but once again I don’t see them on the plane. They all disappear through a curtain. I feel sorry for them, as I am lucky enough to sit near the back of the plane with the rest of my team. I get a middle seat, which is neat, as I can talk to two people either side of me. And it’s handy for the toilets too.

Halfway through the flight, I am feeling rather hungry and have an upset tummy from eating too much fruit, but there is nothing else on the menu that my trainer told me I’m allowed to eat. Maybe next time I should use a Japanese airline as they are more likely to serve Tofu and raw bean shoots. The other F1 people seem to like drinking wine.

I think they are sad to be leaving their families after spending a lovely winter with them and are drinking to forget their sadness at having to be away for about a month for the first four races. Before I left the factory, my press officer – hey, do you like that? “my press officer” stuff – told me that when I land in Melbourne there might be some local TV film crews and newspaper reporters and photographers and would I mind doing interviews with any of them who asked.

I am surprised at this lack of organisation. It is not the way we would do things in Switzerland, so before leaving I find the emails for these TV stations and give them my flight details. They reply and sound excited, saying they might want to talk to me for a minute or two. I mail back, saying they could have a full 20 minutes each, as this would give them a better understanding of my views on F1.

Finally, we land in Melbourne. I feel very proud when the passport control man says “Welcome to Australia Mr. Buemi,” as I didn’t expect to be famous here already, but then I realise he is reading my name from the passport. Never mind It’s a scandal! I have been taken to a small room and there is talk of giving me something called a “full body search.”

It’s ridiculous but apparently I have committed a crime by bringing 20 bars of Toblerone chocolate into Australia. I try to explain it is Swiss chocolate and therefore not just a “foodstuff.” Eventually they let me go, but they keep the chocolate. I am worried there will be no TV crews still there and I will be in trouble with my press officer. But I’m lucky and do many interviews which I am sure will be a great publicity coup for the team as I don’t see other drivers doing as many interviews as me.

Unfortunately, the team forgot to wait for me and it is dark when I leave the airport. So I take a taxi to the city and the driver says that as it’s my first time here, he will only charge me 350 Aussie Dollars. He tells me the exchange rate is 15.75 dollars to the Euro, so taxis are obviously much cheaper than back home.

When I get to the hotel, my teammate Sebastien Bourdais is there. He tells me that as I’ve got here so late, I shouldn’t worry about getting up early for the first technical meeting at the track tomorrow and he will tell me everything the engineers say. I think he is really nice to do this and we will get on really well.

He is giving me lots of little tips and also mentioned that the FIA’s Charlie Whiting doesn’t mind at all if you are late for the Drivers’ Briefings. Also, we have both been invited to the Governor’s Cocktail Reception, but Monsieur Bourdais (as he says I can call him) promised he would let me go alone, so I could do all the interviews and get all the publicity, as it is my first Grand Prix. He really is a gentleman. That must be why he chooses to live in Switzerland.

I think I’m going to enjoy being a Formula 1 driver.

[Devinda_Z]

http://f1.automoto365.com/news/controller....p;news_id=35229

It’s ridiculous but apparently I have committed a crime by bringing 20 bars of Toblerone chocolate into Australia. I try to explain it is Swiss chocolate and therefore not just a “foodstuff.” Eventually they let me go, but they keep the chocolate.

good one KLM!

& having gone through a similar routine at the hands of the very same blokes but a few days ago, i can totally relate!

[miniace]

Yesterdays Q sessions were absolutely shocking! As mentioned before,anythings possible! It could be anybody!Cant wait till the race starts to get into the real competiotion picture.Its too risky to place bets at this stage

MINIACE

[miniace]

Wow thats a true fairy tale stuff.Risen from Honda ashes ,made history with one-two finish after 55 years of F1 history (if im not mistaken),Brawn F1 proved good.Great Richard Branson's luck n charms played best!! Sad it's a disaster for Ferrari.Good show by Hamilton to finish 4th after starting 18th on the grid.Good show by debut Sebastian Buemi

MINIACE

[Overdrive]

It was in 1954 fangio in the mercedes who won in a debut, and now Button in brawn GP, wow!, good for JB and RB for the one-two victory. very good news for ross brawns sponsorship from branson! those two, "midas touch"- no doubt! shame about the ferraris though. kubica and vettle must be kicking them selves after what happened. KERS is quite interesting, Love the way the It fully charges/or is on 100% when the cars cross the start/finish line. but a 1/2 second advantage over the other team is huge. Good on the teams with a deep pockets. i think we can really see some competetive racing after they have had the hearing about the double diffuser issue in april. cars are looking quite nice aswell. Thank god F1 is still alive.

Here in UK, BBC have taken over the F1 rights. quite neat. We have a Interactive screen where you can choose which camera. normal, onboard, highlights and there was some other angle. and you could toggle between 4 different commentries. And commentries by DC and eddie Jordon. (there still gettin the hang of it).

[miniace]

Here in UK, BBC have taken over the F1 rights. quite neat. We have a Interactive screen where you can choose which camera. normal, onboard, highlights and there was some other angle. and you could toggle between 4 different commentries. And commentries by DC and eddie Jordon. (there still gettin the hang of it).

Lucky people !! Im sure the viewers choice of view doubles the pleasure.

MINIACE

[Devinda_Z]

shame about having to end with the safety car , but an interesting race none the less

is Brawn keeps this up i might find myself wanting to get some of thier merchandise!

Branson really knows how to pick a winner so it would seem... & i certainly hope things keep going the way they have started for Brawn - everyone loves the underdog right?! Ross Brawn got a good enough record to say that he's capable of keeping his team pointing and moving in the right direction...

[miniace]

Branson really knows how to pick a winner so it would seem...

As Branson always line...screw it lets do it ha ha ...He is a good virgin huntsman.

MINIACE

[Supra_Natural]

Oh dear.... Hamilton has been stripped of his third place.... Not quite told the truth apparently..

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sport/formulaon...oses-place.html

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sport/formulaon...rting-icon.html

[miniace]

Oh dear.... Hamilton has been stripped of his third place.... Not quite told the truth apparently..

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sport/formulaon...oses-place.html

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sport/formulaon...rting-icon.html

Shame!! shame!! Initially I thought thats an april fool's joke...damn !! Trulli is given the position back.

MINIACE